Mumbai:
Activist-politician Arvind Kejriwal was compared to Adolf Hitler by a former associate, former police officer YP Singh, who today accused union minister Sharad Pawar of illicitly transferring 300-odd acres to the Lavasa hill township in Maharashtra, a project that his daughter was once closely linked to.
But first, Mr Singh targeted Mr Kejriwal. He said, "You cannot do politics like this. They don't see the larger problems. In Germany, Hitler had said the country was collapsing and had come to power...see what happened there."
Mr Singh who retired from the police force a few years ago works as a lawyer-activist. He blamed Mr Kejriwal for suppressing the scandal involving Mr Pawar and focusing instead on "frivolous allegations" against BJP chief Nitin Gadkari. Yesterday, Mr Kejriwal and his supporters publicly declared that Mr Gadkari had grabbed land and water in Maharashtra from some of the poorest farmers in the country in collusion with Mr Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which rules Maharashtra in alliance with the Congress.
Manish Sisodia, who works closely with Mr Kejriwal, said, "We don't exactly know why YP Singh is saying so that we did not reveal documents against Sharad Pawar. He is a very good friend of ours. He also congratulated Mr Singh for "exposing" the senior minister."
The ex-IPS officer also said that Anna Hazare, who had mentored the Indian Against Corruption movement with Mr Kejriwal, had not taken up the issue of this land scam involving Mr Pawar. "Perhaps it is because Anna is from Maharashtra," Mr Singh said.
He said that one reason that Mr Kejriwal chose to attack Mr Gadkari instead of Mr Pawar was that the BJP was a player in the Delhi elections and Mr Pawar's NCP was not. Mr Kejriwal who launched a political party last month is likely to fight the Delhi elections next year.